Thanks everyone for your help. Ok, I'll leave the yews. They were pruned in that weird shape before we bought the house. You can't tell fom these pics but there is a cherry tree in front yard closer to driveway. We ripped out some old ratty looking shrubs when we moved in and easily 12 inches of much and leaves. I know new shrubs will take a while to grow to size, but the sooner I get them started the better. My winter project is going to be learning a landscape software programs, for now I am making do with graph paper, and all of your help. pls8xx: The extended landing looks good, it helps to see it done this way, and the shrubs near it look nice also. So this will be my next big, project. aegis500: The extra tree is a good idea, and the shrub placed near large picture window is perfect. I think 2 more similar but not necessarily the same shrub would do well on either end of house. karinl: Thanks for the compliment for the work done near the house. I admit I started there because it is something we see everyday. And I liked the shoes & clothes analogy. There must be something to it - I've always enjoyed shopping for shoes more than for clothes. jant: Well, we just replaced all the shutters, so to keep peace at home, they have to stay as is. Door color can be changed. But, WOW, what a difference when the big white vinyl siding matches the house color, and I did like the door color, would have never tried that on my own. Not sure how it could be done, can vinyl be painted? It is the eastern side of the house and the winter sun is strong in this part of the house. I don't get why that siding is there, the rest of the house is aluminum siding and brick. brent in nova: I ran out at bought that magazine, had to go to 3 stores to find it! It was good, they added a lot of box wood for winter season interest. I think I can use a lot of what they showed. busyd95: That is a good way to put it: with no front walk and plantings so close it doesn't feel welcoming. There are no sidewalks along the roadway, so people either use the steps from the driveway or cut through the front yard. I did plant the Nellie Stevens holly to help block that view. I think I'll plant 2 more so there is a grouping of them. Thanks again everyone.

Linda, dropping dirt is exactly what I do ha. I work for a propogating nursery and we have huge compost piles outside which we are generously allowed to use. I take two big plastic boxes left over from when we moved here and fill them every day with the compost (mostly dirt but lots of interesting stuff comes up in it). I take it home and drop it on the sand until I have the size or shape garden I want. I plant it and eventually I border it with dropped cement. I've made about seven gardens of different sizes doing this. Seriously I could drop the dirt and water it and all kinds of goodies would pop up (along with weeds). I've had datura, viola, spiderwort, hyssop and of course petunias come up in it. Adele

Ryan, Dangit, I screwed up. Estimate #1 IS for R410 equipment. Sorry about that. I knew that post was too long for me to not have any errors. lol I proofread it several times also! #2 is for R22 #3 is also for R410 As far as installs go, I assume this one to be very simple. It's in the garage with easy access. You are correct, #1 just seemed much more concerned about that whole job. He was also very respectful of my home by removing his shoes before walking on our new hardwoods and carpet. (I did not ask him to remove his shoes.) I am leaning heavily towards #1. Hopefully he will be willing to work with me on the price some. I just want to be fair for all involved. Thanks, Bill

Absolutely! While a taped-to-the-floor template may be OK for some projects, there's nothing like 'real-height' templates left in place over a few days to really get a feel for things. We had to do that to get our island overhang placed properly. Our island backs to the open family room on one side and open dining area on the other, with a 'pinch point' where the outside corner of the island comes close to the outside corner of the wall. We had no idea how wide that 'pinch point' needed to be to accommodate the busy foot-traffic patterns that pass through that area. So we mocked it up the actual bar stools and a cardboard 'top' on boxes that we moved back and forth a little bit each day until we found the 'maximum' kitchen space that didn't pinch at the corner. Then we simply backed out the overhang we needed and taped that spot on the floor for our cabinets - which then drove the details on cabinet sizes. When compared to the 'tape-on-the-floor' version, we were surprised to find that we needed about 6" LESS aisle space than we thought, since overhangs do not feel the same as 'walls'. We did the same thing with our vent-hood, so now when DH blames me for putting the hood 'too low' (he's much taller than I am and it's at the maximum recommended height above the cooktop), I can tell him that he tested it out himself and approved the design...